In their last encounter, DC overcame a stubborn resistance from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to clinch the game in the Super Over. On the other hand, RCB succumbed to their first-ever defeat in IPL 2021, going down to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 69 runs.
DC will be pleased with the manner in which they pulled off a victory over SRH. It was an impressive team effort from both the batsmen and bowlers. While Shikhar Dhawan struggled a bit for the first time in the tournament, Prithvi Shaw lifted his game with a fluent half-century. Steve Smith and Rishabh Pant also made crucial contributions as DC posted a competitive total batting first. They would now expect runs from Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer to feel even more confident about their batting line-up.
The bowling too delivered under pressure. While Kagiso Rabada has, rather surprisingly, not come into his own yet, Avesh Khan has risen to the challenge wonderfully well. Amit Mishra had made a memorable return after missing the initial games while Axar Patel made an immediate impact in his first game of the tournament. Not only did he pick up wickets off consecutive balls, but also delivered a match-winning Super Over.
RCB were put under pressure for the first time against CSK, actually Ravindra Jadeja, to be more precise. The all-rounder first clobbered Purple Cap holder Harshal Patel for 36 runs (37 including the no-ball) in the last over of CSK’s innings. He then ran through the RCB batting line-up. AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell both fell to his guile. RCB would want them back at their very best, for they have been the two most consistent batsmen for the franchise this season.
Devdutt Padikkal looked good in the last game as well without going on to register a big score. Virat Kohli too will be confident of delivering the goods. The ploy to promote Washington Sundar in the batting order is definitely not working though. In the bowling, Mohammed Siraj and Kyle Jamieson have been impressive. It remains to be seen how Harshal recovers from the Jadeja bashing.
Predicted XIs
DC: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Steve Smith, Rishabh Pant (C & WK), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Lalit Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan
RCB: Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (C), Washington Sundar, AB de Villiers (WK), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini
--Renin Wilben Albert